Context

The Fort Victoria Post Journal was kept by Roderick Finlayson, the officer in charge of Fort Victoria, as an official daily record of trade, work, weather, illnesses and other occurrences of note at the fort. The primary purpose seems to have been to allow the hierarchy of the HBC to have an understanding of the operations of each post, and to some degree the efficiency of the post manager. We know that it was written by Roderick Finlayson because he writes about himself in the first person and when he leaves the fort for short periods the handwriting in the journal changes. The Fort Victoria journal only survives for these four years. The original is located at the Hudson’s Bay Archives, now a part of the Provincial Archives of Manitoba and is transcribed here with permission. Reference Number B.226/a/1.